If my life were a movie, it would start with me collapsing in my front hallway and the credits would roll as I woke up from a week’s long ‘sleep’ (i.e., drug-induced unconsciousness), ready to fight whomever and whatever needed fighting. I had a tube in my nose to help me breathe, but I didn’t… Continue Reading
I don’t talk about my father much because, well, that’s actually a part of this post. He is very much an old-fashioned Taiwanese man (emphasis on man) in many ways. He lived in America for roughly 25 years before deciding there was more for him in Taiwan. As a result, many of his ideas of… Continue Reading
I’m full of energy today, which is a change for me. Since I got out of the hospital, I’ve gotten a solid eight hours a night, waking up only once during the night. I’ve woken up and not been exhausted, but my body is still mending. All that sleep is going into the deficit I’ve… Continue Reading
I’ve been frustrated the last few days because I’m not making progress. Intellectually, I know that I can’t be making progress all the time (because there is a a ceiling to my abilities; I’m not superhuman), but I hate feeling as if I’m in a holding pattern. On my morning constitutional, I go a little… Continue Reading
Before the hospital, I was into three different kinds of games: soulslikes, roguelike-lites, and cozy games. I was playing Cozy Grove by Spry Fox (cozy game, of course. It’s right there in the name), Dorfromantik by Toukana Interactive, which loosely fits into the cozy games category as well, and (sigh) Nioh 2 by Team Ninja,… Continue Reading
In the Before Times (before hospital, that is. Not before COVID. It’s funny how the latter has gone from huge in my mind to almost an afterthought. That’s not this post, though, so I’ll leave it there for now), I was very much an all-or-nothing person. Well, let’s back that up even further. Before I… Continue Reading
Before my experience with, well, death, I considered myself a cranky old lady who was a mild version of the ‘well, actually’ dude that everyone hates. I had a mania for the truth in part because I grew up with very unreliable narrators (my parents). My mother forgets the bad things that happen or spins… Continue Reading
We’ve all heard stories about how when people are dying, they see a bright light guiding them. Some hear the voice of a loved one telling them to go to the light. It’s all gentle, encouraging, and almost poetic. Not me. I woke up from a week of unconsciousness with a gasp, ready to fight… Continue Reading
The image I project is that of a tough, wisecracking woman* who don’t take no shit from anyone. It’s mostly fiction, but it’s served me well. To a point. I walked, strode, really, with my sunglasses on and a firm set to my chin. Most people take one look at me and leave me alone.… Continue Reading
I’ve been home from the hospital for four weeks, which has made me reflective. That’s twice as long as I was in the hospital, as difficult as that is to believe. It feels both longer and shorter than four weeks simultaneously. On the one hand, I have a hard time believing what happened to me… Continue Reading